Security Minister Resigns in FARC Firestorm
by Rod Hughes
In a surprise move Sunday, on the eve of his scheduled testimony in front of lawmakers on FARC guerrilla penetration into Costa Rica, Minister of Public Security Fernando Berrocal from his post. The resignation came after a huddle at the residence of President Oscar Arias in the western San Jose of Rohrmoser.
Berrocal’s stepping down apparently is connected with his statement, made March 15, that he expected the computer captured in Ecuador by the Colombian army March 1 could reveal connections between Costa Rican politicos and the FARC guerrilla organization that has been trying to topple the Colombian governmnet for four decades. Later, Berrocal said he had no specific “list of politicans” in mind, a clarification that some interpreted as backing away from his previous stand after the press pushed for him to name names.
The Presidential offices produced a press release that promised “the Executive Branch would supply all the information necessary… (to the courts and the Legislative Assembly) in due transparency and responsibility with which it always has handled topics of national interest.” In a clarification that raised more questions than it answered, Berrocal said he and the meeting with President Arias and Minister of the Presidency Rodrigo Arias came to the conclusion that the subject “should not be politicized.”
(The “transparency” promise may ring hollow to the press, which has been smarting since they were denied access to environmental information from the Ministry of the Environment by recent decree signed by Arias. The press has been probing deeply into violations of regulations involved in granting permits for construction projects and the resulting pollution as well as destruction of plant and wildlife habitats.)
The entire FARC subject arose in the international controversy surrounding the Colombian incursion into Ecuador, the deaths of 20 rebels including FARC’s number two officer, Raul Reyes, along with the capture of laptops and other records. In the aftermath, Costa Rican detectives and police intelligence raided an Heredia home and found $480,000 in FARC funds in a safe. (See previous article last week.)